The first full length release from these pirate thrashers from New Jersey is fun to listen to and lighthearted at times, but not at the expense of the music.

Upon first listening they may seem like a standard, maybe slightly above average modern thrash band, but once you know what they’re about and you allow yourself to have a little fun, you can’t help but enjoy the band.  When you first hear the enthusiastic shouts of “yo ho” during the track “Drink Up” you realize that this band is about having fun and doing whatever the hell they want, just like like their fabled lyrical muses.

The song writing is solid and manages to stay fresh throughout the album, although there is only one song that stands out as a truly great track, “’X’ Marks the Spot”, the album doesn’t have any tracks that are particularly bad either.  The soloing, while not the most complicated or technically amazing, is solid and shows that they know what their limits in playing currently are. They don’t feel the need to try to force anything out, subsequently making the album sound sloppy.

The album is scattered with shorter, folk-like songs, which provide a break between the heavier songs, almost like, the band has come into a port and your hanging out with them at the tavern or something.

If you aren’t the type of person who makes an opinion on a band based on whether or not their style or lyrical content is tr00 enough for you. You’ll be wanting to set sail and, put hands on the starboard bow or some shit, before long.

8/10

This new Martyr release has practically every technical aspect down to a science, but unfortunately that’s also what kills it.

 
From the very first track, you can tell that these guys are a bunch of talented individuals, but, they are not immune to the problem that so many other bands also cope with.  The balance of technical prowess and songwriting.

Most of the songs consist of fairly complicated riffs with a very staccato feel to them, this get’s real annoying real fast, after the initial “wow factor.”

While a band like Necrophagist may suffer from the same problem, it happens much later in the album, with Feeding the Abscess, I was tired of it by about the third song.

The album is alright to listen to in moderation,  but I would advise you to listen to sample tracks on the bands website/myspace etc. before deciding to purchase it.

6.5/10 

Listen for the review on Episode 36 of Metalscape